Numerous appliances are known in the art. Many appliances operate in conjunction with a hand-held transmitter (a so-called remote control). In such a case the hand-held transmitter permits a user to issue commands to the appliance from some distance (such as a few feet or a few yards). Various carrier and modulation approaches serve in these regards including both radio-frequency carriers and infrared-light carriers.
A great myriad of signaling protocols and schemes also exist in these regards. Some are unique unto themselves in nearly every regard. Others are based, in whole or in part, upon a more general scheme such as the Philips RC-5 and RC-6 consumer infrared remote control communication protocol or the so-called NEC protocol used by many Japanese manufacturers.
That said, most such hand-held transmitters are configured to operate with either a specific corresponding appliance or a specific class of appliance such as televisions, light fixtures, and so forth. In some cases the hand-held transmitter is configured to operate compatibly with two or more specific appliances. For example, a single hand-held transmitter may permit the user to control a television receiver as well as a DVD player.
Such remote controls offer numerous benefits and advantages. Remote controls are not, however, a panacea. For example, including a remote control with a corresponding appliance adds cost and increased packaging requirements. Remote controls are also often relatively small and have a way of becoming misplaced and hence unavailable at a time of need.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.